Man Who Could’ve Walked With Plea Gets 40 Years

A Texas man who rejected a plea bargain that would have freed him received a 40-year prison sentence instead, according to reports.

Raymond Lindsey Jr., 46, was sentenced Monday in Montgomery County, north of Houston, after his conviction for assault on a public servant and retaliation, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Lindsey has spent 19 months behind bars since police said he slammed an apartment door on one officer and threatened to kill several others investigating an argument between Lindsey and his girlfriend in January 2015. He turned down a plea deal that would have credited him for his time served and released him.

“This defendant had compiled a lengthy criminal history out of state prior to moving to Texas,” Assistant District Attorney Philip Teissier told the Chronicle. “Consequently, Lindsey is obviously not the type of person we want living in Texas or Montgomery County. Unfortunately for him, he had to learn that the hard way.”

Lindsey’s lawyer filed for a psychological evaluation in March, but the examination and the judge in the case ruled him competent to stand trial.

Lindsey didn’t want to plead guilty to a reduced assault charge because he thought everyone had conspired against him, the appointed attorney, Willis Everett Smith, told the Chronicle.

Smith informed Lindsey that his prior offenses, which include convictions for domestic assault and burglary, would lead to a sentence ranging from 25 years to life. Smith hasn’t had a client pass on a plea bargain as advantageous in his 30 years as a lawyer, he noted.

Lindsey simply said, “It is what it is,” and he didn’t get angry at this lawyer when the jury delivered the verdict last week, Smith told the newspaper.

“He said, 'It's all good, you did your best.’ I said, ‘Wow,’” Smith said. He added that he has filed a notice for appeal in the case.

Investigators said Lindsey destroyed a glass coffee table, a TV, an entertainment center and a bird cage with a live bird inside when police escorted his girlfriend from the apartment in January 2015. He pointed at several of the officers and threatened to kill them during the arrest, court documents showed.

Smith told the Chronicle he doesn’t think Lindsey’s behavior that day was actually directed at the police.

“I think he was more unstable than anything else,” Smith said. “Although, I think if you were to ask him, he would think he was fine. I think he needs another set of eyes and ears to look at what I've looked at.”